Education and Public Outreach for Stardust@home: An Interactive Internet-based Search for Interstellar Dust

Details Education and Public Outreach for Stardust@home: An Interactive Internet-based Search for Interstellar Dust Education and Public Outreach for Stardust@home: An Interactive Internet-based Search for Interstellar Dust

Dec 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006aas...209.7507m&link_type=abstract

2007 AAS/AAPT Joint Meeting, American Astronomical Society Meeting 209, #75.07; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, V

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On January 15, 2006, NASA’s Stardust mission returned to Earth after nearly seven years in interplanetary space. During its journey, Stardust encountered comet Wild 2, collecting dust particles from it in a special material called aerogel. At two other times in the mission, aerogel collectors were also opened to collect interstellar dust. The Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector is being scanned by an automated microscope at the Johnson Space Center. There are approximately 700,000 fields of view needed to cover the entire collector, but we expect only a few dozen total grains of interstellar dust were captured within it. Finding these particles is a daunting task. We have recruited many thousands of volunteers from the public to aid in the search for these precious pieces of space dust trapped in the collectors. We call the project Stardust@home. Through Stardust@home, volunteers from the public search fields of view from the Stardust aerogel collector using a web-based Virtual Microscope. Volunteers who discover interstellar dust particles have the privilege of naming them. The interest and response to this project has been extraordinary. Many people from all walks of life are very excited about space science and eager to volunteer their time to contribute to a real research project such as this. We will discuss the progress of the project and the education and outreach activities being carried out for it.

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